Mardi Gras: history, culture, and traditions

Mardi Gras

People can, and often do, build shrines in their memory to cherished experiences in their lives. While some of these shrines are dedicated to memories of a purely personal nature, a few are related to community traditions that have grown to have especial meaning. The Mardi Gras is one such tradition, which many Americans value both for its historical significance as well as because it is a much looked forward to event of fun, color, and uninhibited celebration. Indeed, the Mardi Gras has grown to the stature of a form of American pilgrimage for many citizens and tourists alike.

What makes the Mardi Gras so singularly extraordinary among the tens of hundreds of festivals that are characterized by fun and gaiety? No doubt, a survey to determine the main factors behind the mystique and charisma of the Mardi Gras would throw up several rational and emotional descriptors such as the satirical procession of the Krewe du Vieux Carre; the carefully orchestrated theatrical parades by the Zulus and the Indians; the debutantes and the balls; the decorations; and all the historic rituals. But the fact is no amount of adjectives can really describe the Mardi Gras. For, to use a cliche, the Mardi Gras has simply got to be experienced to understand why it has become almost an annual American pilgrimage.

Fortunately, I belong to a family of people who have personally experienced the Mardi Gras festivities. Though, as I mentioned earlier, the use of adjectives usually fails to do justice to any attempt to recapture the Mardi Gras effect in words, I will nevertheless try to describe the impact the event had on me, personally. First and foremost, witnessing the Mardi Gras is an awesome spectacle reminiscent of the most elaborate stage settings in films such as Gone with the Wind or Cleopatra. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that the Mardi Gras literally leaves its participating audience with a totally stage struck feeling. The Mardi Gras, however, does not let you stay stage struck for very long for one simply gets swept away on a tide of mysterious, masked male figures; alluring, seductive women; adventurers; and unabandoned gaiety. The net result is that the Mardi Gras, with all the rich traditions and rituals it has on offer, succeeds in transporting people back in time to an era that represents perhaps the best in romance.

The sensation of being carried back in time also results in invoking a keen desire to understand the historical origins of the Mardi Gras. In fact, it would probably surprise most people to learn that the history of the festival can be traced all the way back to the Romans who celebrated the Lupercalia, a circus like carnival, as a period of merriment preceding the month of Lent. The Mardi Gras, itself, came to America in 1699 with the French explorer Iberville. In fact, pre-Lent masked balls and festivals were common in New Orleans during the eighteenth century. The custom was, however, banned when the Spanish took over and subsequently revived only in the early nineteenth century once New Orleans came under the U.S. flag. Unfortunately, irresponsible public behavior earned the Mardi Gras a dubious reputation, which was saved only by the timely intervention of six New Orleans citizens who formed the Comus organization in 1857 with the express purpose of demonstrating that the festival could be a safe event. Thus began the practice of parades, secret Carnival societies, and the building of traditions such as the king cake, the 'King of Carnival,' the Zulu King, and the formation of several 'krewes.' Over time, the various krewes began to represent a mix of old and new customs and thereby ensured that the Mardi Gras did not get stuck in time and always had something new to offer.